Built-in kitchen appliance

ABSTRACT

A built-in appliance designed for being embedded in a furniture cabinet ( 110 ) having a furniture cabinet door ( 125 ) swiveling about an axis, the appliance comprising an appliance cabinet ( 105 ) and an appliance door ( 150 ) swiveling about an axis parallel to the swiveling axis of the furniture cabinet door ( 125 ). A coupling member ( 210 ) is provided for mechanically coupling the appliance door ( 150 ) to the furniture cabinet door ( 125 ) such that opening of the furniture cabinet door ( 125 ) causes the appliance door ( 150 ) to be opened, and closing of the furniture cabinet door ( 125 ) causes the appliance door ( 150 ) to close, the coupling member comprising a flexible central portion ( 401 ) and a first and a second opposite lateral portions ( 402, 403 ) and being configured to be attached to the outside of the appliance door ( 150 ) along the first lateral portion ( 402 ), and to the inside of the furniture cabinet door ( 150 ) along the second lateral portion ( 403 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of household appliances, particularly kitchen appliances like food refrigerators.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Embedded and built-in household appliances for kitchens, i.e. kitchen appliances like refrigerators that are designed for being fitted into furniture bodies, have been known for years. They are appreciated by customers due to the fact that the appliances so designed are perfectly integrated in the kitchen furniture and do not affect the overall appearance thereof.

Nowadays there is a growing trend in the kitchen furniture industry towards kitchen furniture without handles (handle-less or handle-free kitchen furniture), i.e. kitchen furniture with furniture cabinet doors and drawers that do not have visible or protruding handles to be gripped by the users to open the doors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has tackled the problem of providing a kitchen appliance like a food refrigerator that is suitable for built-in installation in a handle-less kitchen piece of furniture.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a

A built-in appliance is provided designed for being embedded in a furniture cabinet having a furniture cabinet door swiveling about an axis. The appliance comprises an appliance cabinet and an appliance door swiveling about an axis parallel to the swiveling axis of the furniture cabinet door. A coupling member is provided for mechanically coupling the appliance door to the furniture cabinet door such that opening of the furniture cabinet door causes the appliance door to be opened, and closing of the furniture cabinet door causes the appliance door to close. The coupling member comprises a flexible central portion and a first and a second opposite lateral portions and is configured to be attached to the outside of the appliance door along the first lateral portion, and to the inside of the furniture cabinet door along the second lateral portion.

The flexible central portion of the coupling member may be made of silicon, rubber or felt.

The first and a second opposite lateral portions of the coupling member are preferably more rigid than the flexible central portion.

The flexible central portion may be formed by a flexible body and the first and second opposite lateral portions may be totally formed by rigid members, attached or fixed to lateral sides of the flexible body.

The rigid members may extend along the two opposite longer sides of the flexible body.

In embodiments of the present invention, both the central portion and the first and second lateral portions of the coupling member may be formed by a flexible body, and the first and second lateral portions may have rigid members embedded in the flexible body, such embedded rigid members defining reinforcing parts for locally reinforcing the coupling member.

Preferably, the rigid members extend along two opposite longer sides of the coupling member.

In embodiments of the present invention, the coupling member may be fabricated by moulding of material, preferably injection moulding, over-moulded on the rigid members.

In embodiments of the present invention, both the central portion and the first and second lateral portions may be formed by a flexible body, and the first and second lateral portions may further comprise U-shaped rigid members enclosing the first and second lateral portions of the flexible body.

Edges of the first and second lateral portions may fit by interference into the U-shaped rigid members.

In embodiments of the present invention, the coupling member may be made of a single flexible body and the central portion thereof may be loaded with a substance adapted to provide more flexibility to the material of the flexible body, thereby the first and second lateral portions are more rigid than the central portion of the coupling member.

advantageously, both the central portion and the lateral portions of the coupling member have a height in the range from 10 cm to 60 cm, preferably 15-30 cm, a length in the range from 50 cm to 70 cm and a thickness in the range from 0.5 to 5 mm.

Preferably, one of the first and second lateral portions of the coupling member is attached on or close to a lateral free edge of the refrigerator door, preferably around the edge between a front surface of the refrigerator door and a side of the refrigerator door, and the opposite lateral portion of the coupling member is attached to an inner side of the furniture cabinet door in a position where it does not overlap with the lateral portion attached to the refrigerator door when the two doors are closed.

Alternatively, one of the first and second lateral portions of the coupling member is attached to an inner side of the furniture cabinet door in a position close to a lateral free edge of the furniture cabinet door, where it partially or totally overlaps with the opposite lateral portion of the coupling member when the two doors are closed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, provided merely by way of non-limitative example, description that, for its better intelligibility, should be read in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically shows in isometric view a built-in kitchen household appliance embedded in a kitchen piece of furniture, with the appliance door partially open;

FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically show in cross-section along a horizontal plane II-II the built-in kitchen appliance of FIG. 1, with the door closed and open, respectively;

FIG. 4 shows, developed in a plane and from the front, a coupling member for coupling the door of the kitchen appliance with the door of the piece of furniture wherein the appliance is embedded;

FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d show, in lateral view, the coupling member according to embodiments of the present invention, and

FIGS. 6 and 7 show, in views similar to those of FIGS. 2 and 3, an alternative mounting of the coupling member to the doors of the kitchen appliance and the piece of furniture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 schematically shows in isometric view a built-in household appliance, particularly a built-in kitchen appliance, embedded in a piece of furniture.

The appliance is for example a food refrigerator 105, designed for being installed embedded in a piece of furniture, for example a furniture cabinet 110 part of a kitchen furniture, in such a way as to be completely hidden within the furniture cabinet 110.

The furniture cabinet 110 comprises cabinet panels, e.g. made of wood or other material commonly used in the furniture industry, the panels being assembled to form a parallelepiped. The panels of the furniture cabinet 110 comprise for example two lateral, vertically-extending panels 115, a top panel 120, a bottom panel 123 and (possibly) a rear panel 205 (not visible in the view of FIG. 1, but visible in FIGS. 2 and 3). A furniture cabinet door 125 is hinged to, e.g., a front edge of one of the two lateral panels 115, e.g. the right-hand lateral panel 115 in the drawing, so as to be swivable along a vertical axis.

The refrigerator 105 comprises a refrigerator cabinet 130 which in use is fitted within the furniture cabinet 110. The refrigerator cabinet 130 defines inside it a food storage compartment 135, which may be provided with shelves 140 and/or drawers 145 for containing food. A refrigerator door 150 is hinged to a front vertical edge of the refrigerator cabinet 130 so as to be swivable along a vertical axis parallel to the swiveling axis of the furniture cabinet door 125.

The refrigerator door 150 is advantageously coupled, in a way described in detail in the following, with the furniture cabinet door 125, so that when the user opens the furniture cabinet door 125, also the refrigerator door 150 is open, and vice versa when the user closes the furniture cabinet door 125, also the refrigerator door 125 is closed.

The furniture cabinet door 125 is preferably handle-free, i.e. no handle or other protruding grip means are provided, so that the external side of the furniture cabinet door 125 is essentially flat, smooth.

To assist the user in the operation of opening the furniture cabinet door 125, a “push-to-open” mechanism is preferably provided. The push-to-open mechanism may be of a known type, for example model TIP-ON produced by Julius Blum GmbH, and preferably comprises a spring-loaded piston 155 mounted in a cylinder provided on the furniture cabinet 110, advantageously on a front edge thereof, e.g. along the front edge of the lateral panel 115 opposite to the lateral panel to which the furniture cabinet door 125 is hinged (the left-hand lateral panel 115 in the drawing). The push-to-open mechanism works as follows: when the furniture cabinet door 125 is brought to the closed position, at a certain time the furniture cabinet door 125 abuts the piston 155 and pushes the piston 155 (against the spring force) back into its seat, until the piston reaches a retracted position in which it is retained by a retaining mechanism. In this operation, the spring-loaded piston 155 performs a damping action. A magnet is advantageously provided in the piston 155 (e.g. on the head thereof) that cooperates with a magneto-responsive member, e.g. a metal plate attached to the inner side of the furniture cabinet door 125, to keep the latter in the closed position by magnetic force. To open the furniture cabinet door 125, the user slightly pushes it and the piston 155 is thus released from the retaining mechanism and the spring that biases the piston causes the piston 155 to move to the extracted position, thereby exerting a force on the furniture cabinet door 125 that causes the latter to slightly open of a certain angle, sufficient for the user to grip the furniture cabinet door 125 edge and continue the opening.

The retaining mechanism may be realized in different ways. One possible solution is to provide the bottom of the cylinder hosting the piston 155 with a hook member and the piston 155, in its longitudinal portion opposite the head, with a guide for the hook member, which guide is branched into a first and a second path almost parallel to each other. When the piston is pushed into the cylinder, the hook member slides into a first branch of the guide up to an end section where an edge wall deviates it laterally into a seat. When the piston is then released the hook member, loaded by the spring, abuts against the wall of the seat, thus impeding the piston extraction. If the piston is further pushed (as a result of a pressure on the furniture cabinet door 125), another edge wall positioned in front of the seat further deviates laterally the hook member (in the same direction as above) so as to lead it into the second path of the guide, where the hook member is then forced to slide by the spring action on the piston. As the piston is extracted, it opens the furniture cabinet door 125.

The push-to-open mechanism can thus move to one condition to the other simply by a push action on the head of the piston, i.e. by a push action on the furniture cabinet door 125.

A coupling member 210 is provided for coupling the refrigerator door 150 with the furniture cabinet door 125. The coupling member 210 is shown developed in a plane from the front in FIG. 4 and laterally in FIG. 5a . FIGS. 5b, 5c and 5d show, still in lateral view, other possible embodiments of the coupling member.

As visible in FIG. 4, the coupling member 210 may be a substantially rectangular body having two opposite longer sides 405 and two opposite shorter sides 410. The coupling member 210 comprises a flexible central portion 401 and a first and a second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 along the longer sides 405. The central portion 401 is substantially flat and is formed by a flexible body 434 of a material like silicon, rubber or felt. Preferably this material has also a certain degree of elasticity. The first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 shall be suitable for fixing the coupling member 210 to the refrigerator door 150 and to furniture cabinet door 125, respectively, and therefore should have a sufficient robustness. Advantageously, the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 may be more rigid than the central portion 401. Moreover, the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 may be formed, totally or in part, by rigid members 435, such as metal stripes or plates.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5a , the central portion 401 is formed by the flexible body 434 and the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 are totally formed by rigid members 435, attached or fixed to the lateral sides of the flexible body 434. Advantageously, the rigid members 435 extend along the two opposite longer sides 405 of the flexible body 434.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5b , both the central portion 401 and the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 are formed by the flexible body 434, but the lateral portions 402, 403 in addition have rigid members 435, such as metal plates, embedded in the flexible body, which define reinforcing parts for locally reinforcing the coupling member 210. Again, the rigid members 435 advantageously extend along the two opposite longer sides 405 of the rectangular piece of flexible sheet material. For example, the coupling member 210 is fabricated by moulding of material, e.g. injection moulding, and the reinforcing parts 435 are inserted in the mould where the material to be moulded is then injected.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5c , both the central portion 401 and the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 are formed by the flexible body 434, but the lateral portions 402, 403 further comprise U-shaped rigid members 435 enclosing (in particular encapsulating) the lateral portions of the flexible body 434. In this case, the edges of the lateral portions 402, 403 may fit by interference into the U-shaped rigid members 435.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5d , the coupling member 210 is made of a single flexible body 434 and the central portion 401 is loaded with some substances, for example foam, providing more flexibility to the material. Therefore, the first and second opposite lateral portions 402, 403 are more rigid than the central portion 401.

The coupling member 210 may comprise through holes 440, for example six, three distributed along one of the two longer sides 405, and the other three distributed along the other longer side 405, for the fixation to the refrigerator door 150 and furniture cabinet door 125.

Possible dimensions of the coupling member 210 may be the following: both the central portion 401 and the lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height (i.e. a width) in the range from 10 cm to 60 cm, preferably 15-30 cm, a length in the range from 50 cm to 70 cm and a thickness in the range from 0.5 to 5 mm. The optimum height clearly depends on the type of materials chosen.

As an example, in the embodiment of FIG. 5a the central portion 401 and lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 10 cm and a length of 60 cm, while the thickness of the central portion 401 may be 1 mm and that of the lateral portions 402, 403 3 mm. In the same embodiment, the metal stripes forming the lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 2 cm.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5b , the central portion 401 and lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 20 cm and a length of 60 cm, while the thickness of the central portion 401 may be 2 mm and that of the lateral portions 402, 403 6 mm. In the same embodiment, the metal stripes embedded in the lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 2 cm and a thickness of 2 mm.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5c , the central portion 401 and lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 10 cm and a length of 60 cm, while the thickness of both the central portion 401 and the lateral portions 402, 403 may be 3 mm. In the same embodiment, the metal stripes embedded in the lateral portions 402, 403 may have a height of 2 cm.

The coupling member 210, folded along a folding axis F shown in FIG. 4, is then affixed to the refrigerator door 150 and to the furniture cabinet door 125, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, e.g. by means of screws: the coupling member 210 is affixed to the refrigerator door 150 in correspondence of one of the two longer sides 405, and to the furniture cabinet door 125 in correspondence of the opposite longer side 405. Preferably, the lateral portion 402 of the coupling member 210 is attached on or close to the lateral free edge of the refrigerator door 150. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the lateral portion 402 is attached around the edge between the front surface 215 of the refrigerator door 150 and the side 220 of the refrigerator door 150. Still in this embodiment, the lateral portion 403 is attached to the inner side of the furniture cabinet door 125 in a position where it does not overlap with the lateral portion 402 when the two doors are closed. In particular, the lateral portion 403 is a few centimeters distant from the lateral free edge of the furniture cabinet door 125. With such a construction, when the furniture cabinet door 125 is slightly open and the refrigerator door 150 still closed, the free edge of the furniture cabinet door 125 is free and can be easily grasped by the user's hand.

The coupling member 210 is mounted as described above at a height such that the coupling member 210 vertically extends through an area where it is expected that the user will apply his/her hand for opening the refrigerator door 150.

Preferably, the lateral portion 402 is fixed to the furniture cabinet door 125 first, in a position suitable to control an angle of opening of the door itself, and then the lateral portion 403 is fixed to the refrigerator door 150.

The two lateral portions 402, 403, possibly reinforced with the reinforcing parts 435, ensure a strong, close stable and straight connection of the coupling member 210 to the refrigerator door 155 and the furniture cabinet door 150.

Other means for affixing the coupling member 210 to the doors 125 and 150 can be used, e.g. the coupling member 210 can be glued, along the two longer sides 405, to the doors 125 and 150, or snap-fit means provided on the two doors 125 and 150 can be provided for snap-fit coupling the member 210.

When the furniture cabinet door 125 and the refrigerator door 150 are closed, as in FIG. 2, the coupling member 210, being of flexible material (in at least the central portion 401), is compressed and stays in a gap 225 between the inner side of the furniture cabinet door 125 and the outer side of the refrigerator door 150. The coupling member 210 is not visible from the outside.

When the user wishes to open the refrigerator door 150 to access the food storage compartment 135, the user slightly pushes the furniture cabinet door 150, and, as described in the foregoing, the piston 155 is released from the retaining mechanism, so that the piston biasing spring causes the piston 155 to extend, thereby exerting a force on the furniture cabinet door 125 that causes the latter to slightly open of a certain angle (while the refrigerator door 150 is still closed), sufficient for the user to put the fingers of his/her hand in the gap that forms between the furniture cabinet door 125 and the front edge of the lateral panel 115. The fingers of the user grip the coupling member 210, and the pulling action of the user on the furniture cabinet door 125 is transmitted by the coupling member 210 to the refrigerator door 150, that is caused to open. The width of the central flexible portion 401 and the fixing position of the lateral portions 402, 403 to the furniture cabinet door 125, together with the length of the released piston 155, determine and limit the angle of opening of the furniture cabinet door 125 with respect to the refrigerator door 150. Even when the furniture cabinet door 125 is open, the coupling member 210 hides the gap between the furniture cabinet door 125 and the refrigerator door 150.

To close the refrigerator door 150, the user pushes the furniture cabinet door 125. The coupling member 210 is thus compressed, and the pushing action of the user on the furniture cabinet door 125 is transmitted to the refrigerator door 150. The flexibility of the material forming the coupling member 210 has a damping function that avoids the furniture cabinet door 125 unpleasantly beating against the refrigerator door 150.

Moreover, the particular coupling between the refrigerator door 150 and the furniture cabinet door 125 according to the present invention allows, if wished by the user, to close only the refrigerator door 150 while keeping the furniture cabinet door 125 slightly open so as to be easily grasped when needed. To do so, it can be sufficient to apply a smooth/gently push on the furniture cabinet door 125, sufficient to close the refrigerator door 150 but insufficient to close the furniture cabinet door 125 due to the action of the piston 155. Differently, when the user wishes to close both doors, he has to apply a pressure on the door sufficient to push in the piston 155.

According to a less preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lateral portion 403 is attached to the inner side of the furniture cabinet door 125 in a position close to the lateral free edge of the furniture cabinet door 125, where it partially or totally overlaps with the lateral portion 402 when the two doors are closed. In this case, when the two doors are closed, the flexible body is folded around the folding axis F shown in FIG. 4, extending parallel to the longer sides 405. The drawback of this solution is that when doors 125, 150 are opened, the central portion 401 may hit the user's hand. 

1. A built-in appliance designed for being embedded in a furniture cabinet (110) having a furniture cabinet door (125) swiveling about an axis, the appliance comprising an appliance cabinet (105) and an appliance door (150) swiveling about an axis parallel to the swiveling axis of the furniture cabinet door (125), characterized by comprising a coupling member (210) for mechanically coupling the appliance door (150) to the furniture cabinet door (125) such that opening of the furniture cabinet door (125) causes the appliance door (150) to be opened, and closing of the furniture cabinet door (125) causes the appliance door (150) to close, the coupling member comprising a flexible central portion (401) and a first and a second opposite lateral portions (402, 403) and being configured to be attached to the outside of the appliance door (150) along the first lateral portion (402), and to the inside of the furniture cabinet door (150) along the second lateral portion (403).
 2. The built-in appliance of claim 1, wherein the flexible central portion (401) of the coupling member (210) is made of silicon, rubber or felt.
 3. The built-in appliance of claim 1, wherein the first and a second opposite lateral portions (402,403) of the coupling member (210) are more rigid than the flexible central portion (401).
 4. The built-in appliance of claim 3, wherein the flexible central portion (401) is formed by a flexible body (434) and the first and second opposite lateral portions (402,403) are totally formed by rigid members (435), attached or fixed to lateral sides of the flexible body (434).
 5. The built-in appliance of claim 4, wherein the rigid members (435) extend along the two opposite longer sides (405) of the flexible body (434).
 6. The built-in appliance of claim 3, wherein both the central portion (401) and the first and second lateral portions (402,403) of the coupling member (210) are formed by a flexible body (434), and wherein the first and second lateral portions (402,403) have rigid members (435) embedded in the flexible body (434), such embedded rigid members (435) defining reinforcing parts for locally reinforcing the coupling member (210).
 7. The built-in appliance of claim 6, wherein the rigid members (435) extend along two opposite longer sides (405) of the coupling member (210).
 8. The built-in appliance of claim 6 or 7, wherein the coupling member (210) is fabricated by moulding of material, preferably injection moulding, over-moulded on the rigid members (435).
 9. The built-in appliance of claim 3, wherein both the central portion (401) and the first and second lateral portions (402,403) are formed by a flexible body (434), and wherein the first and second lateral portions (402,403) further comprise U-shaped rigid members (435) enclosing the first and second lateral portions of the flexible body (434).
 10. The built-in appliance of claim 9, wherein edges of the first and second lateral portions (402,403) fit by interference into the U-shaped rigid members (435).
 11. The built-in appliance of claim 3, wherein the coupling member (210) is made of a single flexible body (434) and wherein the central portion (401) thereof is loaded with a substance adapted to provide more flexibility to the material of the flexible body, thereby the first and second lateral portions (402,403) are more rigid than the central portion (401) of the coupling member (201).
 12. The built-in appliance of claim 1, wherein both the central portion (401) and the lateral portions (402,403) of the coupling member (210) have a height in the range from 10 cm to 60 cm, preferably 15-30 cm, a length in the range from 50 cm to 70 cm and a thickness in the range from 0.5 to 5 mm.
 13. The built-in appliance of claim 1, wherein one of the first and second lateral portions (402,403) of the coupling member (210) is attached on or close to a lateral free edge of the refrigerator door (150), preferably around the edge between a front surface (215) of the refrigerator door (150) and a side (220) of the refrigerator door (150), and the opposite lateral portion (403) of the coupling member (210) is attached to an inner side of the furniture cabinet door (125) in a position where it does not overlap with the lateral portion (402) attached to the refrigerator door when the two doors are closed.
 14. The built-in appliance of claim 1, wherein one of the first and second lateral portions (402,403) of the coupling member (210) is attached to an inner side of the furniture cabinet door (125) in a position close to a lateral free edge of the furniture cabinet door (125), where it partially or totally overlaps with the opposite lateral portion (402,403) of the coupling member (210) when the two doors are closed. 